IMRA - Monday, April 26, 2004 Mt. Herzl 5764 - Torch of the Speaker of the Knesset - Text

[Translation provided by the Israel Government Press Office]

I, Reuven Rivlin,
son of my father and teacher, Professor Yosef-Yoel Rivlin,
may he rest in peace,
researcher of Semitic languages,
and translator of the Koran into Hebrew,
and - may she live long - my mother and teacher, Rachel,
who today, 6th Iyar, is exactly one hundred years old;

seventh generation in Jerusalem;

descendent of the Aliyah to Jerusalem,
one hundred years before the vision of Herzl,
by the disciples of the Gaon, Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna;

Speaker of the Sixteenth Knesset;

am honoured to light this torch,
of the fifty-sixth Independence Day of the State of Israel.

In honour of -
The Knesset, the legislature of Israel,
and the temple of democracy!

In honour of -
the pioneers, the vanguard of those who came to
settle the Land of our Fathers, who redeemed the land -
from Hanita - to Kfar Darom;
from Negba - to Kiryat Arba, that is Hebron!

In honour of -
The heroes of all branches of the security forces.

In honour of -
Jerusalem, our holy city, our eternal capital and the heart of the nation.

And for the glory of the State of Israel!

IMRA - Monday, April 26, 2004 Mt. Herzl 5764 - Torch of the Speaker of the Knesset - Text